Reed Magazine's Profile of Oregon State Rep. Chris Garrett '00

It’s raining in Salem, and the March drizzle has darkened the marble of the Oregon State Capitol to a dreary shade of gray. But the third-floor office of Rep. Chris Garrett is positively aglow with energy as constituents, staffers, and lobbyists clamor for a few moments with the second-term Democrat. One visitor frets about funding cuts to a pet project. Another seeks help hammering out a compromise on a controversial bill. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici calls on his cell phone. A newspaper reporter wants an interview.

Through it all, Garrett exudes an effortless calm. He greets everyone cordially, switches seamlessly from education to economics to small talk. After a while, you notice that he listens more than he speaks, and when he does speak, it’s usually to pose a question.

At first glance, the lanky, red-haired lawyer in the trig suit might appear more temperamentally suited for a position in academia. (The four-volume Papers of John Marshall holds a place of pride on his office bookshelf.) But Garrett has thrived in the hurly-burly of politics and is considered a rising star in Oregon’s Democratic Party.

“I love being part of the process, the give and take,” he reflects later. “I think of politics as problem solving, and I believe my value is working behind the scenes to bring people together.”